


Advanced Turning of Tables

by onemechanicalalligator



Series: Topics in Romance and Recovery [6]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26795350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onemechanicalalligator/pseuds/onemechanicalalligator
Summary: “I’m here if you want to talk about it,” Abed says. “But if you don’t want to, that’s okay, too.”Abed is strong for Troy this time.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Series: Topics in Romance and Recovery [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775179
Comments: 8
Kudos: 82





	Advanced Turning of Tables

Troy and Abed spend a long time in the Dreamatorium, practicing all the things they couldn’t do over the past few months, the things they never talked about in their letters. Getting to know new parts of each other, learning what they like, what feels good.

After, they order chicken fingers for dinner and they cuddle up on the couch with Abed’s laptop to research weighted blankets. Abed has very specific criteria for material and weight and pattern, so it takes a while, but by the time their dinner arrives he’s ordered one to be delivered in a couple of days. It’s more of a relief than he expected, just knowing it’s on the way.

While they eat dinner they watch TV. Abed puts on a DVD that contains all of their favorite episodes of _Inspector Spacetime,_ many of which Abed hasn’t been able to bring himself to watch since Troy’s been gone. They spend several hours like that, and it feels like old times only better, because they’re cuddled much closer than they ever were before, Abed with his legs laid out on the couch and Troy stretched out between them, his back against Abed’s chest and Abed’s arms around Troy’s waist. 

When they start to get sleepy, they lazily brush their teeth and head into the blanket fort. It’s still hot, so they sleep in their underwear with only a sheet over them, both sharing the bottom bunk. They drift off to sleep as they recount episodes of _Troy and Abed in the Morning._

Abed wakes up in the middle of the night and he’s confused.

First, he’s confused because he’s at home, not at the hospital. That’s a good surprise. Then he’s confused because Troy was with him, and now he’s not. That’s a bad surprise. 

He walks out into the living room, but it’s empty. So is the bathroom. Finally, he checks the Dreamatorium, and there Troy is, flat on his back in the middle of the room, staring up at the ceiling.

“Hey,” Abed says quietly, but Troy still startles.

“Hey,” Troy says. “Sorry. Did I wake you up?”

Abed shakes his head. “I woke up and you were gone, but I don’t think I woke up _because_ you were gone. Are you okay?”

Troy nods, and then stops nodding and shrugs instead.

“Troy?” Abed says, worried.

“I’m not _not_ okay,” Troy assures him. “I’m just not sure if I’m _okay_ either?”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Abed wants to sit down next to Troy, wants to hold him and tell him it’ll be fine. But he’s not sure if that’s what Troy wants or needs right now. So he waits.

Troy doesn’t say anything for a long time.

“You can sit down,” he says finally, and Abed does. Troy scoots over and puts his head in Abed’s lap and looks up at him.

“I’m here if you want to talk about it,” Abed says. “But if you don’t want to, that’s okay, too.”

“I do,” Troy says. “I just...don’t want you to misunderstand. I don’t want you to think this is your fault.”

“Okay,” Abed says. “I won’t.”

Troy looks at him for a minute.

“I think I’m just a little overwhelmed,” he says. “The last few weeks have all been a little crazy, and I’ve been feeling a lot of things, and now I’m here, and I’m feeling even more things, and it’s just...a lot.” His eyes fill with tears. “Please don’t feel bad, though. You didn’t do anything wrong. I promise.”

“I know,” Abed says. Troy is crying for real now. “Troy. I know. And it’s okay. You’ve been through a lot lately. And not normal stuff, either. A lot of weird things. It’s okay to be overwhelmed.”

“I feel like a jerk, because this isn’t about me,” Troy says through his tears. “You’ve been through so much, and I really haven’t, I’ve just been on a boat writing you letters. And now I’m here freaking out in the middle of the night...because I get to be with you?”

“I mean, this whole thing started when we hadn’t talked in weeks and then you got a text saying I was being taken to the hospital by ambulance,” Abed points out. “That can’t have felt very good. You have some trauma to deal with, too.”

“I guess,” says Troy. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what’s wrong with me, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling all freaked out, and I had to get out of bed so I did, and I ended up here, and then I just couldn’t shut my brain off. And I kept thinking about when you were in the hospital, and how scary it was, and I felt so helpless. And I’m so relieved that you’re home now, and I’m here with you, and I don’t know why I’m freaking out _now.”_

“Maybe it’s like...you were being strong all that time, for me. And now you can relax a little. And let your own worries out. And maybe you can let me take care of _you_ a little bit.”

Troy blinks at him a couple of times.

“Cry as much as you need to,” Abed continues. “For real. Let it all out. It’s okay. I can hold you if you want.”

Troy sits up and climbs in Abed’s lap, wrapping his arms around him, and then he starts to _sob._ He cries for a long time, and Abed just holds him close, rubbing his back and occasionally whispering things like, _“You’re okay,”_ and _“I love you.”_

When Troy stops crying, he slumps against Abed’s chest and doesn’t move right away. Abed rocks him gently back and forth and says _shh, shh,_ but what he’s really saying is, _you’re safe, everything is fine._

“Do you want something to drink?” Abed whispers. “Or some tissues?”

Troy nods against Abed’s chest and then mumbles, “Tissues.”

Abed is about to stand up when Troy suddenly clings harder to him and starts to cry again, gasping and gulping, his sobs ragged and loud. Abed just continues to hold him, occasionally patting his hair or his back, holding him as tightly as he can without squishing him. His heart hurts, but he thinks probably not as much as Troy’s.

Troy starts to breathe faster, more erratically, and Abed starts to worry that he’s going to hyperventilate. So he does the first thing that comes to mind.

_“Somewhere out there,”_ Abed sings softly, his mouth next to Troy’s ear. _“Beneath the pale moonlight…”_

Troy takes a deep, shuddering breath.

_“Someone’s thinking of me...”_

Troy takes another breath, still gripping Abed tightly.

_“...and loving me tonight.”_

Abed presses a kiss to Troy’s head and Troy’s breathing starts to even out.

_“Somewhere out there…”_

Abed squeezes Troy close to him, rocking him.

_“...someone’s saying a prayer.”_

Troy sighs.

_“That we’ll find one another…”_

Troy takes a deep breath against Abed and lets it out.

_“...in that big somewhere out there.”_

Abed pauses, meaning to assess how Troy is doing, to see where to go from here. Troy surprises him.

_“And even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star,”_ he sings shakily, his voice watery and soft.

_“And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,”_ Abed picks up. “ _It helps to think we’re sleeping underneath that same big sky.”_

Troy climbs out of Abed’s lap and sits next to him, resting his head on his shoulder, and together they sing the last verse, Abed’s voice strong, Troy’s still a little unsteady:

_“Somewhere out there if love can see us through, then we’ll be together, somewhere out there, out where dreams come true.”_

They sit silently for a little while.

“The acoustics in the Dreamatorium aren’t bad,” Abed finally remarks.

“Thank you, Abed,” Troy says. “How did you know that would bring me back?”

“I didn’t,” Abed admits. “Lucky guess. Would you like that tissue now?”

Troy nods, and Abed stands up and finds a box of tissues. He brings a glass of water, too, just in case, and Troy drinks the whole thing quickly. Then Abed takes his hand and guides him back to bed.

“It’s okay not to be okay,” Abed whispers, after turning off the lights. “You don’t always have to be strong for me. I can be strong for you, too. You know that, right?”

“I do now,” Troy says, and snuggles closer to him. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.”

They fit themselves together, Abed as the big spoon and Troy as the small one, and drift off to sleep. 

Abed dreams about Annie coming home the next day, and about the rest of his friends, all of them spending time together with Troy for the first time in months. 

He can’t wait.


End file.
